Military Bottom Line

VR&E Independent Living track is for veterans with serious employment handicaps that need assistance with setting up their independent living needs. 

For more Info visit Here

As service members, you are protected under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). However, this doesn't mean you will not run into trouble with your civilian employer as a result of your military service.  

It can be a difficult battle that you should not go at alone. If you need this assistance from VR&E, go ahead and apply.  

For more information and to apply, follow the link 

Wondering how to get a job after the military? If you don't want to go back to school after you get out and prefer to go straight to work, this benefit is for you.  

Don't miss out on the opportunity of applying to and using VA benefits you have earned. Use VR&E and the Rapid Access to Employment track to get the help you need landing the job that will support you and your family. 

For more information Click Here

Veteran Rehabilitation and Employment has many tracks to assist veterans become independent. 

In this episode we discuss the Self-Employment Track.  If you are a veteran that DID NOT receive a dishonorable discharge and was rated at 10% or more by the VA, you are eligible for this program.  

This program assists eligible veterans start their own business and become self employed.  

For more information, check out the VA website

VR&E Regs

Veteran Rehabilitation and Employment is an incredible benefit with many updates. In this video we are going to focus on the Employment Through Long-Term Services track.  

Check out the VA site for more information on this benefit 

For veterans, submitting a FAFSA application can literally be the difference of a million dollars tax free.  

*** I am not a legal, finance or tax professional. All videos and information is for entertainment purposes only. Check with a legal or tax professional before acting on any entertainment from this channel.

The INDIVIDUAL MOBILIZATION AUGMENTEE (IMA), is an incredible way to continue service after your initial military contract.   

I stumbled on this opportunity when I met other IMA Marines that came down intermittently from their full time NY State Police jobs to avoid the winter months in upstate New York.  

The IMA offered tremendous flexibility to avoid active duty and the standard one weekend a month, two weeks a year schedule. As long as you meet the annual training requirements and maintain good relationships and accountability, you can use the IMA as employment while focusing on your civilian career or education.  

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In this video were are going to discuss two routes for staying in the military directly after active duty. You can do this via the Army/Air National Guard or the military reserves.   

Some great reasons to go from active duty to national guard are as follows: 

-You want to serve local to your home of record (or a specific area) 

-You want to get a new MOS (military occupational specialty) 

-You want to take advantage of a national guard (state specific) education benefits 

-You’re ok with the one weekend a month, two weeks a year schedule 

-You want to take advantage of guard bumming (state activation, deployments, schools, etc)   

Some great reasons to continue serving in the reserves: 

-Going from active duty to the reserves can be a relatively seamless transition 

-You don’t want to change your MOS -You want to stay in your branch (this mostly applies to Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as crossing over may require relearning rank structure and culture) 

-You live near a reserve base or aren’t leaving the area of your last duty station  

BUT, the greatest reason of all, NO commitment!  

For those in their first contract, after 4 or 5 years of active duty, you will still have an IRR obligation. Within your IRR obligation, you have the ability to effectively ‘try out’ the reserves to see if you like it. At any point in time, you have the ability to drop back to the IRR with no consequences.   

At the end of the day, both are great options depending on what you’re looking for. Both allow you to keep serving and build federal time, both allow you to maintain adventure and travel/deployment opportunities (for better or worse) and both enable you to take advantage of healthcare needs and other insurances.  One of the biggest differences that MUST be pointed out is that if you go to the national guard - you will have a SIX YEAR COMMITMENT.   

Compare that to utilizing your already existing IRR obligation to try out the reserves in a branch and job you’re already familiar with with no obligation.  My recommendation and strategic play in this if you are considering keeping your foot in the door after active duty is to first spend some time in the reserves. Take advantage of the no obligation service and focus on school, a new career or whatever you left active duty to work on.   

At the point you’ve completed school or gotten settled into a career, you’ve likely made up your mind about continuing service. At this point, you’re more informed and know more about the guard/reserve life. You can now decide between getting out entirely, staying reserves or moving over to the guard without getting stuck in a 6 year contract.

Is it worth using your GI Bill for online programs?  

In this episode we're going to discuss the reality of using your veteran education benefits for online school.  

We'll cover: Who should and should not be using their GI Bill for online programs, Pros and Cons of using the GI Bill online, BAH, and Strategy on how to make the most of your GI Bill while using it online

You will grow up!

The military will force you to leave your comfort zone and grow up, especially if you go active duty where you’re forced to leave home and all the comforts and security that you may have been used to.  

College (TA, GI Bill, etc)

While your counterparts will graduate highschool and go on to take out tens of thousands of dollars in debt to complete a college degree, you’ll get paid to go to school instead. Starting out your career/life with no student loans, will put you decades ahead of your peers. You can get paid to go to college while you’re in the military or you can get paid to go to college after you separate from the military. Either way, delaying college in order to do it for free is well worth it! 

Start earning ASAP

Again, while your counterparts will start earning a living at 22/23 years old in the hole $20-50k, you’ll start earning at 18 years old. When you begin earning at an earlier age from a position of no debt, this enables you to start investing earlier. While it may seem like nothing now, it could be the difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars when it comes time for retirement 

VA Loan

While your counterpart will be scrounging to save for a downpayment on a home, you will have the ability to get into your first home or better yet, rental property without having to worry about a down payment and you’ll be able to keep that retirement fund invested 

Camaraderie 

Hands down, you will make the best friends of your life. These relationships will be worth far more than any of the other benefits we discussed before.  

At the end of the day, I am a big advocate for joining the military and taking advantage of the cheat codes it offers. There is no better way for the average Joe or Jane American to get ahead financially and professionally at a young age.   

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